Court Finds DOMA Unconstitutional

A federal district court judge in Massachusetts has declared the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA) unconstitutional. DOMA prevents Social Security from considering state-sanctioned same sex marriages even though Social Security normally is bound by state law in determining family relationships. If this stands, and that is a big "if," there would be significant effects upon Social Security benefits for wives, husbands, widows and widowers.

Consensus Forming On Cutting Social Security?

Is there a Congressional consensus forming on cutting Social Security benefits? TPM fears there may be and that "it could happen swiftly, with very little notice."

More On New Regs On Scheduling ALJ Hearings

From today's Federal Register:

We are amending our rules to state that our agency is responsible for setting the time and place for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). This change creates a 3-year pilot program that will allow us to test this new authority. ...

The ALJs [Administrative Law Judges] who conduct the [Social Security] hearings are dedicated, hard working professionals; they will play a central role in helping us reduce the backlog. However, some ALJs do not schedule or hold a minimally acceptable number of hearings, and our current rules are arguably unclear as to certain scheduling issues. ...

We anticipate using this pilot authority primarily in a very small number of situations where an ALJ is scheduling so few hearings that he or she is compromising our efforts to make timely and accurate decisions for people applying for benefits. One impetus for proposing these rules was a New England judge who scheduled no hearings for many years. Because we expect that virtually all ALJs will work with us to schedule hearings in a timely manner, administrative action under this regulation should be an exceptionally rare occurrence. ...

We will consult with the appropriate Hearing Office Chief Administrative Law Judge (HOCALJ) and the ALJ before we exercise the pilot authority provided in these rules to determine if there are any reasons why we should not set the time and place of the ALJ's hearings, such as the ALJ being on leave for an extended period or insufficient staff support to prepare cases for hearings. If the HOCALJ does not state a reason that we believe justifies the limited number of hearings scheduled by an ALJ, we will then consult with the ALJ before deciding whether to exercise our authority to set the time and place for the ALJ's hearings.

Social Security Employment Down Slightly

Below are the March 2010 figures for the number of employees at Social Security recently released by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), along with earlier figures for comparison purposes.

• March 2010 66,863
  
• December 2009 67,486
  
• September 2009 67,632
  
• June 2009 66,614
  
• March 2009 63,229
  
• December 2008 63,733
  
• September 2008 63,990
  
• September 2007 62,407
• September 2006 63,647
• September 2005 66,147
• September 2004 65,258
• September 2003 64,903
• September 2002 64,648
• September 2001 65,377
• September 2000 64,521
• September 1999 63,957
• September 1998 65,629

OMB Approval Requested For Dispensing With Expert Opinions In Fully Favorable Disability Determinations

Social Security has just requested the approval of the Office of Management and Budget (OMB), which is part of the White House for new regulations which would "... permit disability examiners in our State agencies to make fully favorable determinations without requiring the input of a medical or psychological consultant in certain claims for disability benefits ..."

New Regs Coming On Setting Time And Place For Hearings -- For Three Years

Social Security has filed new final regulations to be published in the Federal Register tomorrow that will state that Social Security "is responsible for setting the time and place for a hearing before an administrative law judge (ALJ). This change creates a 3-year pilot program that will allow us to test this new authority."

Michael Astrue's term as Commissioner of Social Security will end before this three year time period expires.

Movivg Ahead On Occupational Information System

From a notice posted on FedBizOpps.gov:

The Social Security Administration (SSA) has a need to acquire expert services in the field of Industrial Organizational (I/O) psychology or an equivalent field to develop a prototype work-side instrument for the purpose of conducting analyses of work that exists in the national economy. ... The size standard is $7M. This procurement is a 100% small business set aside. SSA anticipates awarding one (1) firm fixed price contract for this effort. The period of performance shall be for 6 months from date of award. It is anticipated that the Request for Quotation (RFQ) will be issued on or about July 7, 2010.

This is the sort of thing that makes it obvious that Social Security plans to go ahead with its own occupational information system. The advisory committee and the request for public comments are little more than window dressing.

Administrative Law Matters

While I am a Social Security law specialist, in a more general sense I practice administrative law and I do so proudly since America has the most advanced system of administrative law in the world. Few nations can boast of anything approaching the Administrative Procedure Act. The Freedom of Information Act and the Privacy Act are important components of our system of administrative law and models for the world. Even the seldom noticed Paperwork Reduction Act is an important bulwark against bureaucratic overreaching. Does this sort of thing matter to anyone other than bureaucrats and drudges like me? Take a look at what happened in India after it adopted a freedom of information act.